Working with the Selection
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Working with the Selection

There are two basic ways of selecting text in Kate: using the mouse and using the keyboard.

To select text using the mouse, hold down the left mouse button while dragging the mouse cursor from the point where the selection should start to the desired end point. The text gets selected as you drag.

Double-clicking a word will select that word.

Triple-clicking in a line will select the entire line.

If Shift is held down while clicking, text will be selected as follow:

Note

When selecting text by dragging the mouse, the selected text is copied to the clipboard and can be pasted by clicking the middle mouse button in the editor, or in any other application to which you want to paste the text.

To select text using the keyboard, hold down the Shift key while using the navigation keys (the arrow keys, Page Up, Page Down, Home and End, possibly in combination with Ctrl to extend the move of the text cursor).

See also the section Navigating in the Text in this chapter.

To copy the current selection, use the Edit->Copy menu item or the keyboard shortcut (defaults to Ctrl+C).

To deselect the current selection, use the Edit->Deselect menu item, or the keyboard shortcut (default is Ctrl+Shift+A), or click with the left mouse button in the editor.

Using Block Selection

When the Block Selection Mode is enabled, you can make “vertical selections” in the text, meaning selecting limited columns from multiple lines. This is handy for working with tab separated lines for example.

Block Selection Mode can be toggled using the Edit->Block Selection Mode menu item. The default keyboard shortcut is Ctrl+Shift+B.

Using Normal Selection Mode

If Normal Selection Mode is enabled, typing or pasting text into the selection will cause the selected text to be replaced. If not enabled, new text will be added at the position of the text cursor.

Normal Selection Mode is enabled by default.

To change the setting for this option, use the Cursor & Selection page of the configuration dialog.

Using Persistent Selection Mode

When Persistent Selection Mode is enabled, typing characters or moving the cursor will not cause the selection to become deselected. This means that you can move the cursor away from the selection and type text.

Persistent Selection Mode is disabled by default.

Persistent Selection Mode can be enabled in the Cursor & Selection page of the configuration dialog.

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